Ok, that's more good input. Not certain of all that it tells us, but it eliminates a number of things controlled by the ECM that were on the suspect list.
Thinking back & reading over the questions ask & replies, I didn't remember, nor read if you answered if you have a glove box courtesy lamp in your 94 & if so, have you tested its switch to make sure its turning off when you activate it & that its adjusted so that its Staying off after the glove box door is closed????

 

On my 2002 3.0l 2wd I connected a test light from the positive post to the cable and started pulling relays and fuses. All this because the battery light is on and when the battery is connected, the starter solenoid clicks. I found it quit when I pulled the GEM fuse. replaced that and started pulling circuit fuses. At the battery saver circuit it finally didn't show a closed circuit. I'm still looking for the location of the battery saver relay. The battery shorted exactly like it did when I had the A/C clutch relay go bad.

 

Good Idea!!


People don't realize how dependent these Rangers are on each component. My 2002 Ranger quit shifting when a rear turn signal bulb burnt out. Replacing the bulb corrected the problem. All the fixes have been really easy after I located the faulty component. One was a parasitic draw to the A/C clutch because of a failed relay.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I have pulled every relay so many times I can't count, but it still seems the only way I see results is with every component in the PDB out of its socket. Even then there's still a 1.76 to 2.25 amp draw. I don't know if its meaningful but the draw with all components out of the PDB did increase from 1.76 to 2.25 the last time I tested. The only variable I could figure was that the outside temperature was much warmer than on previous tests... could that be an indication of something?

Glove box light has been eliminated as have most of the interior/exterior lights. The only faulty lights I've found are the high stop light and the cargo lights which are not working at all. I've checked the bulbs with my meter, they are okay but neither have power to them unless a switch is activated. Lower brake lights are fine as are interior lights.

 

OK, good feedback on the glove box lamp question.
I know your getting frustrated with what seems like never ending dead ends, but they all tell us something about whats going on.
SO, lets review whats been done & where you are right now with your trouble shoot.
You've pulled all fuses, diodes & power relays from the under hood power distribution box & in cabin dash fuse panel, disconnected the alternator & ECM & still have between 1.76 & 2.25 amp parasitic draw.... right????

 

If you haven't disconnected the alternator B+ lead with all of the above unplugged/disconnected "at the same time", do that too & let us know if anything happens. If no joy, disconnect the B+ cable from the under hood power distribution box & see what happens.

 

PawPaw - you are correct on the previous post regarding the draw with all components removed from the fuse boxes. Only change has been the draw varied from 1.76 early on to 2.25 on the last try.

I have disconnected all leads from the alternator with no change in the draw but I haven't done the disconnect with all the fuses and relays removed... so that will be my next move.

 

I took the easy way out in the end. I gave the truck to my brother in law who has a farm in GA. He needed a truck badly, so with full knowledge of the issues, he took the responsibility. I'm not one who gives up easy but this had me stumped. I had recently bought a '03 Ranger 4.0, 4WD to replace a F150 and really had no use for the '94 2WD anyway.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed their ideas. This site was a treasure chest of info but I never could isolate the problem.

 

OK, thanks for closing out your thread. Maybe the BIL will pick it up & finish your trouble shoot & we'll finally discover if its in the alternator, or something being fed off the under hood power distribution box. Sure would be interesting to find out where the parasitic draw was coming from. I think you were Real close to solving it. Be sure to give him all the trouble shooting info you developed. Maybe give him a link to this thread if he's going to carry on????

 

Pawpaw, I know my BIL and am convinced he'll handle the draw in the same manner I've lived with over the past months. Disconnecting the negative terminal every time its going to sit for more than a day. As long as that works he'll be happy. I'm disappointed I couldn't find it but decided to move on.

 

All. I included the quote above as a reminder that, as my wife tells me all the time, "you're wrong".

BIL was satisfied with removing the negative cable until it failed to start repeatedly. A local shop quickly diagnosed a bad fuel pump and dropped the tank to replace it. BIL had forgotten I had an access panel cut in the bed under a liner so he paid the toll. Long story short the new fuel pump cure only lasted about a year (length of warranty) before same issue was back. Intermittent no start. BIL did try to find problem without success to his credit. On my last visit there we put our heads together and started trying to trace the no start issue. Sometimes just moving the relays to different positions took care of the problem...temporarily. Since we had no sound from the pump with the no start condition it was obvious that was at least part of the problem. On checking we found only 9v at the pump, We had 12 at the ECS (emergency cut-off) so we straight wired from it to the pump. Presto! a working pump and a start. A few minutes later the no start was back. I researched the no start issue and found a cure on the "2 car guys" website. The case had the exact same problems so we followed the instructions and straight wired the ECS directly to the battery eliminating the ECM and the relay but adding a switch and a 10a in line fuse. Its now been a week and he has had no further issues with the no start. Of course he does have to remember to turn the switch on and off. The final part of this saga was that after straight wiring job the parasitic draw was down to less than an amp after the ECM shut down.

As I said previously, I'm no whiz when it comes to electrical problems but it does seem to me the ECM nay have been the issue all along. Any thoughts?

I wanted to correct the website name I used, it was "2carpros.com" not 2 car guys.